My Angel
by Shylia
Summary: Christine realizes that she can't leave her angel, and that her love for Raoul was never more than friendship. Will her angel ever be able to trust her, and forget her professions of love to another man? Please RXR and I hope you enjoy it!
1. Unable to Leave

Lost in thought, Christine allowed Raoul to guide her toward the boat; toward their escape and the new life that awaited them. Her angel, for that's what she would always think of him as, had proven that he wasn't the monster everyone thought him. How could she have believed that he would go through with his plan to kill Raoul? If she was honest with herself then she would have know he couldn't have gone through with it; he wouldn't deliberately hurt her that much. As the sound of the mob approaching and the rocking of the boat drew her from her thoughts, something gripped at her heart.

She had kissed he angel twice. Once to save Raoul, or so she told herself, though now she had to admit that there was something more. As their lips separated and their eyes met she saw just how much he loved her and she realized that she had felt the same way about him for so long. Unable to deny her feelings any longer she found herself leaning back into his embrace and kissing him once more, pouring all of her feelings into that kiss.

Looking back at the way things happened it was easy to see that she had been afraid of those feelings and when Raoul showed up she tried to transfer those feelings to him. Raoul had been her childhood sweetheart and her friend, no more. Raoul's reaction to her angel had been a natural one; she couldn't fault him for trying to protect her from the man she was so afraid of.

As Raoul stepped into the rocking boat behind her and began to push it away from the shore Christine knew she couldn't go through with it. "Raoul, I can't go with you." she firmly stated as she lunged for the shoreline.

"But Christine, he let us go! He knows you only offered to stay with him to save me. He couldn't accept that lie. It seems not even a monster can accept the façade of love offered only to save her lover."

"He is not a monster! A monster wouldn't have let us go. He loves me, and Raoul, I love him too. I didn't realize it until just now but that doesn't make it any less real. Please don't look at me like that, I truly thought I loved you in that way, but when he kissed me I realized that what I felt for you was just left over from our childhood. I was afraid to love him before, but I can't leave him now." Christine finished on a sob.

With a sigh Raoul turned away from her and pulled the boat back to the shore. "I love you Christine, you know I do, and I want nothing more that to take you away with me. But if I take you with me now I will be no better than him. I will let you go back to him with the hope that you will realize that you were wrong about your feelings for him and return to me." With those final words he helped her out of the boat and quickly and angrily pushed once more away from the shore.

Left standing there in shock as Raoul rowed as fast as he could to get away from her, Christine noticed the sounds of the mob getting nearer. Without another thought for Raoul she turned and ran back to where she left her angel. Her angel, she thought once more; he was her angel and she didn't even know his real name. She would have to remember to ask him later, but right now she knew she had to convince him to save himself from the mob.

The sight of her angel, the one who had comforted her and taught her over the years, broke her heart. He was crumpled on the ground, sobbing over an old, well worn toy. As soon as he heard her footsteps he looked up with such hope in his eyes.

"Christine, what are you doing here? You should have already left. I don't want them to find you here."

"I don't want to go. Not without you." She said on a whisper.

"Go Christine! You don't want to be here with me. Look at me; you don't want to spend the rest of your life with a monster like me! There is still some time, go while you still have the chance."

"I'm not leaving you," she said more firmly. "But we have to get away from this place. Is there another way out?"

The anger that had slowly built up when he saw her coming back suddenly drained away with a final, heart wrenching sob. "Oh Christine."

Christine sank to her knees and moved his head to rest on her lap, gently stroking the still uncovered cause of all his grief. "I'm sorry Angel. I put you through all of this, all because I was scared. I was afraid of my feelings for you so I hid them away. They were too strong for me at the time. I…I love you Angel."

Tears rolled down her cheeks and onto the scars on his face. She was the only person other that Madame Giry who had ever cared what became of him. "I don't want you to give up your life with Raoul for me. You deserve all he has to offer, and I have nothing to offer you."

"I only thought I loved Raoul that way. I realized tonight, when I kissed you, that it had all been a lie. Why can't you believe that I want to stay with you? I do; I want to stay with you forever, but right now we have to get out of here. I can't let them find you!"

Slowly he reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes, then, cupping her cheek, he said unbelievingly, "If that is what you really want Christine, but know this; if you go with me now, I don't think I will ever be able to let you go."

"I don't want you to let me go."

"Behind that mirror, the one draped in red velvet, is another tunnel leading through some catacombs, it ends at the main water source for this river. It isn't always safe, but we can get out that way. I will protect you. Go open it for me while I gather a few things." With that he stood and helped her to her feet, then stooped to retrieve his mask.

Just as she pried the mirror open he had gathered a small satchel of food for their journey and joined her at the entrance of the tunnel. With one last glance around, he met her eyes, and unable to resist any longer, bent to kiss her. As he pulled back with a somewhat shy smile she leaned in and gave him another quick kiss. Stepping back to let him lead her into the tunnel she cast a worried glance across the river, but the person she saw standing there lifted her heart. Meg was there, and knew that she was alright. She would do her best to mislead the mob. With a relieved sigh, Christine waved goodbye to Meg, unsure when she would see her next.

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Hey, Thanks fo all of the reviews...They make me very happy!!

And I'm sorry I kept you all waiting so long, but I just finished chapter 2 and so I'm about to post that as well.

But I am reposting this chapter because as I read back through it, there were a few typos. That is the only thing thats different so...please do continue on. :)


	2. Ancient Kings

Christine promptly followed her angel through the mirror into the seemingly endless tunnel and was instantly swallowed up into the darkness. As a last thought, she turned back to the entrance and tried to pull the mirror closed to conceal them. It had been very difficult to open it, but it seemed closing it was going to be impossible. After a few tries she remembered their rush and so merely pulled the curtain back into place. Hopefully Meg would be able to distract them enough so they wouldn't notice the glass missing there. With this done she ran back in the direction they had been going, returning to her angel's side.

"You must be careful in here Christine, I haven't been this way in ages and it might not be as safe as it once was." Now that he had her at his side he was determined that nothing would take her away from him. His whole life he had been shunned and abused, but now God, the one he had at times prayed to and at times cursed, had seen fit to give him this one blessing.

Silently smiling at the concern in his voice, she shyly stepped closer to him and slipped her hand into his. He jumped at the contact of their hands, but soon squeezed her hand slightly and brought it to his lips to place a quick kiss on it. With her hand gripped in his and his heart pounding in his ears, he began the ascension from the depths of his beloved opera house. A hint of sadness broke through his growing happiness as he realized that this would never again be his home. Pushing this thought from his head he lead his beloved muse carefully through the darkness, judging each step in the unlit corridor.

Thus far the tunnel had seemed perfectly safe, at least to Christine's untrained eyes it did. She was unaware of the many traps they had avoided; he had avoided them so well in fact, that she wasn't even aware of them. When they reached the catacombs, long since forgotten by the rest of the world, Christine paused to take a look around; her eyes have adjusted to the darkness and this room being slightly lighter than the rest of the tunnel. She shuddered at the eeriness and sadness they presented. Everywhere, the walls were lined with the decayed bodies of people. They were obviously much revered at one time for they were adorned with exotic and ancient treasures, but these people had long since been abandoned and forgotten.

"Angel, who are these people?"

"I don't know my dear; they were here long before I came to be. When I was younger I used to come here to visit them regularly. I would imagine they were kings of ancient days who had chosen me to protect their remains, but as I grew older I found it more and more depressing 'till I stopped visiting them altogether."

"Oh. It seems so sad that they should be remembered by no one."

"Don't worry love; they are far from caring whether or not they are remembered."

With a sight Christine replied, "I suppose you are right. Are we almost there Angel?"

"Yes, we will be there soon and then we can stop and rest a bit…I really wish you wouldn't call me Angel though. Someone like me could never deserve a name like that. Call me anything but that!"

"No matter what I call you, you will always be my angel, for that is exactly what you have been. But if you don't like the name then what shall I call you? What is your real name my love?"

"I don't know what my real name is, but when I was found they began calling me Erik Destler."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. Do you mind if I call you Erik? I think the name suits you well, and whoever picked it couldn't have known how well it would suit you."

"You may call me that if you wish; I always rather liked the name myself. But whoever gave it to me couldn't care less if it suited me or not, because as soon as I was old enough to get rid of they sold me to the freak show when they passed through the town they lived in."

Christine couldn't help notice the sadness and anger that filled his eyes as he told her how he got his name. As he turned to continue on, her hand still in his, she didn't budge. When he turned back around to see what was wrong she threw herself into his arms. "I'm sorry Erik, sorry that you went through all of that and more than you have told me I'm sure, and then I betrayed you as well. How can you ever forgive me for reopening all of your unhealed wounds? I do love you, and maybe someday I can make it up to you."

Erik didn't speak immediately, but Christine didn't push him, she just stood there with here arms wrapped around his waist. His arms slowly, gently encompassed her as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "My past will always haunt me Christine, but any pain you might have caused me was erased the moment you came back to me. I love you more than you could know."

With another quick peck on her forehead he released her and gathered her hand back into his. "We must continue on now, they might have found the tunnel and if they find us it would be very dangerous. We will talk more later, I promise."

With a nod, Christine began to follow him through the catacomb as it turned back into a tunnel, though much lighter than the other one had been. This must be where the light was coming from and they must be very close to the end of it.

Again Christine didn't notice the traps Erik led them safely through, but she was very valiant for keeping calm at the rats she began to notice. It was too dark to see them before, but now with the light she could see that they were everywhere. But she also knew that screaming of fainting would do no good in this case, if it ever did any good in any case. Screaming would alert the mob to their presence it they were still there, and fainting would only make Erik's burden greater. So she bravely continued forward, desperately fighting to keep her calm regardless of the rats. Erik noticed her reaction and gave her a reassuring grin.

"We are almost past them, I promise. Do you think you can tolerate them that long? If not I can carry you."

Taking another deep breath to calm herself before she replied, "I…I think I'll be okay. Than you though."

"Anytime, my love."

When they were finally through the rodent infested channel they both breathed easier, though for very different reasons. Christine couldn't think beyond being away from the rats, while Erik knew they were finally beyond the mobs reach even if they had followed them. As they both emerged from the tunnel into fresh air and what remained of the moonlight they looked at each other with a huge smile. They knew there were many more obstacles to overcome, even more to deal with that night. But they had overcome so many hindrances already that they could think only of the good to come.


End file.
